Exploring ghost towns
is a fun, entertaining way to relive aspects of the American West. Some
ghost towns
in the American
West
such as Oatman, Arizona
are not only inhabited, but make the most of their opportunity to
capitalize on their town’s former glory. In other cases,
ghost towns
truly are empty and totally uninhabited, aside from archaeologists and
occasional tourists passing through. Such is the case high in the hills of
west central Montana,
where the historic
ghost town
of Garnet is located.

If you’ve
been to any of Montana's
other well-known
ghost towns
like Virginia City or
Bannack, you’ll find Garnet just as
intriguing if not even more so.

It is
situated in a remote valley located at the head of First Chance Creek,
6,000 feet up in the green pine forested mountains east of Missoula.
Garnet has an isolated feel to it and is not heavily touristed or
commercialized. As you might expect (especially when you see it),
Garnet has a reputation of being a haunted
ghost towns.

Garnet dates back to
the turn to the 20th century. It was named for the semi-precious
garnet rock first mined there before gold was found. Like most mining
towns, Garnet wasn’t built to last, yet over a century later,
buildings lacking foundations still stand.

Placer mining was practiced around the area later to be established as
Garnet in the 1860s, and gold was found at the First Chance Gulch in
1865. Miners worked about 50 mines in the vicinity. Garnet dates back
to 1895, but it wasn’t until an abundant strike at the Nancy Hanks
Mine that the town began to boom. In 1896, the Nancy Hanks Mine
produced $690,000, and the boom continued throughout the 1890s as
mining companies rolled into Garnet.

Based on the wealth it was producing, you can get a good idea of what
life there must have been like when Garnet was thriving. Garnet had
four hotels, four stores, two barbershops, a butcher shop, a doctor’s
office, laundry facilities and thirteen saloons.

Despite its remote location, there was a school and unlike other
mining towns, many families resided in Garnet. Stagecoach
transportation ran daily between Bearmouth and Coloma and supplies
were available in Missoula and Deer Lodge, just a three-day’s journey
from Garnet. The population of Garnet grew and it was much more of a
community than typical mining towns. The population swelled to as many
as 1,200 in its prime.

Residents of Garnet
did more than just mine for garnets and gold and support the efforts
of miners. There were dances and parties, picnics and fishing trips
and a genuine social life for its residents. Saloons and the drinking,
gambling and prostitution that typified many mining camp towns were
present, but controlled to a great degree. The jail was available as
an incentive to keep rowdy drunkenness at a minimum, or at least a
tolerable level.

Twenty years after it was established, the gold in Garnet ran out. AS few
as 150 people remained in Garnet and most of the mines were abandoned by
1905. A fire raged through the town in 1912, destroying many commercial
establishments. Garnet was never rebuilt, and employment opportunities
presented by World War I lured remaining residents away.

Garnet did experience a
revival of sorts in 1934 following the rise in gold prices instituted by
President Roosevelt. When gold skyrocketed from $16 to $32, miners moved
back into Garnet’s abandoned buildings and once again, mines were worked.
Just as World War I had stripped Garnet of the remnants of its first
population, World War II did the town in once again. Mining became more
challenging as dynamite use was restricted and Garnet was abandoned once
and for all by 1940.

Garnet, Montana. Photo by Kathy
Weiser-Alexander, July 2008
Available for photo prints
HERE.

Over
the years after it was abandoned, Garnet was looted of its remaining
furnishings and preservation efforts began in 1970. Today Garnet is
managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the not-for profit citizens
group, the Garnet Preservation Association.

Today
thirty buildings remain, including a log and frame cabin, a store, a
saloon, and the remains of the J. K. Wells Hotel. There are also several
miners’ cabins still standing. A Visitor’s Center is located on site
featuring books and gift items and interpretive signs and self-guided
trails explain the historic site.

You can visit Garnet year
round, although the road is closed to wheeled vehicles and accessible
mainly by snowmobiles or cross-country skis from January 1st through April
30th. You can rent cabins in Garnet or hire a guided tour in the summer
months.

If you’d like to ghost-hunt
in Garnet, one of the most popularly cited haunted buildings is Kelly’s
Saloon. Sounds of music and laughter are reportedly heard there even in
the dead of winter when only one individual is overseeing the town.

Caretakers
also report hearing unexplained footsteps in the old Wells hotel, as well
as doors shutting even in places where no doors are present. Whether it’s
the Saloon or the hotel, those who’ve experienced the unexplained
phenomena confirm that as soon as you approach the building, the noises
immediately stop.

Whether you
see or hear any spirits on your visit to Garnet, you’re experience will be
memorable. It is eerie and impressive to step back in time in a place
distinctly lacking the heavy commercialization and tourist-trappings
typical of other ghost towns
and historic sites. A tour of Garnet is a one of a kind adventure.